The Zoram People’s Movement government in Mizoram headed by Lalduhoma has outlined seven areas of focus.
Addressing the first session of the newly constituted ninth Legislative Assembly, Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati said seven broad areas of thrust encompassing six basic needs would be accorded importance in the next five years.
These include providing support and impetus to industry, access to social security and social equity, protection of the environment, youth welfare and development, and long-term developmental projects that can have transformative outcomes.
“The outcome of the (November 7) election is indicative of the people’s yearning for a new system, or ‘Kalphung Thar’, and it reflects the firm conviction of our people in the democratic process of change,” the Governor said.
The areas had been identified in keeping with the people’s mandate for the new system, he indicated.
Election of three women ‘unprecedented’
The Governor said the election of three women to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly was unprecedented in the legislative history of the State.
“I am deeply pleased to see women in the highest decision-making body in the State, and I am confident that your contributions will certainly have a positive impact on the lives of women across the State,” he said.
‘Financial hardship’
The Governor also said the State government was committed to providing the right ambience for fulfilling the aspirations implicit in the people’s mandate. At the same time, he underlined the “acute financial hardship” the State faces.
“...the continued recourse to high levels of borrowings by the government to meet its ever-expanding expenditures has had a negative impact leaving our economy in dire straits. The decreasing devolution and the small base of our tax revenues have also added to the problem, resulting in an accelerating debt burden,” he said.
The fiscal constraints notwithstanding, the government would endeavor to set things right through fiscal consolidation, proper fiscal management, austerity measures, pruning non-developmental expenditure, and resource management and mobilisation, he added.
